Jared (17 page)

Rai’s mind merged so completely with his that she
couldn’t help but overhear. And again came that desperate cry. No!

This time, however, the stroke of calm that found her
was not his. Creed, enhanced by Ian, covered his efforts and hushed them.
Something they’d never be able to do if Jared was at full strength.

You’re killing him, Raisa. Taking too much.

No. He has enough.

Yes. I have enough, Jared thought. He’d always have
enough for her.

No, he doesn’t. He hasn’t replenished from last time.

He’d say—

He would never deny you. Hard, implacable, Creed took
advantage of Jared’s weakness to command Rai’s attention. He’ll let you suck
him dry.

Yes, he would. Anything she needed he would provide.
No matter what the cost. Raisa needed to be strong to survive. Jared pulled her
closer, slashing at Ian as he grabbed his shoulder, his talons meeting flesh.
Ian didn’t let go.

“Do you want to kill him, Raisa?”

Another No, wilder than the last.

“Then let go,” Creed whispered aloud and into their
heads. You need to let him go.

Raisa’s vampire fought with all-consuming need for his
blood while Raisa fought with every bit of her humanity. The scream that tore
through her as she withdrew her fangs echoed the howl from his vampire. She
wasn’t strong enough yet.

Jared pressed her head into his chest. Her hand came
between them, pressing back. She’d drained him to the point that he couldn’t
even win that small battle.

Her eyes met his. Her face faded in and out of focus.
Her eyes rounded with horror. “Oh no.”

He touched his finger to her cheek, blooming with the
pink of health. “Next time we need privacy to do it right.”

His head fell back. She scrambled from his arms. They
felt empty without her.

“How could you let this happen?” Her energy snapped
and crackled at the weres.

“Neither of you exactly gave us much of a choice.”

“Bull.”

Jared heard a gasp and then smelled the rich feminine
promise of her blood. He caught the wrist she lifted to his mouth, brought it
to his lips. He allowed himself one sip of her intoxicating richness before he
sealed the wound with the stroke of his thumb. “No, baby.”

“Don’t you ‘baby’ me.” She shoved her wrist in his
face. “Feed.”

He owed Creed and Ian for the shield they threw up
between his mind and hers. Weres could be very effective telepaths at close
range, though Creed and Ian were amazing for weres. He made a note to inform
Caleb of that idiosyncrasy.

Another gasp preceded her removal from his side. His
vampire snarled. His human side sighed with relief. He didn’t know how long he
could resist Raisa. She affected him like no other.

“Thank you.”

“Thank me later. Right now, feed.” Ian’s scent came
strong to his nostrils, the allure of his were blood potent. Jared resisted.
Taking blood between were and vamp opened a mental door for the weres to their
minds. The brothers had agreed their allegiance with the weres was too shaky to
give them that leverage.

“You know the rules.”

“Fuck the rules. They won’t do you a bit of good if
you’re dead.”

Ian had a point.

“Besides, if I’d wanted your secrets I’d have them by
now. The D’Nallys aren’t ordinary weres.”

Ian’s face blurred in and out of focus. Raisa’s hand
touched Jared’s shoulder. The purity of her energy fortified his. “Feed,
Jared.”

He shook his head, “Stay out of it, Raisa.”

This was too critical a decision to be made in haste.
The shake of her head, which he couldn’t see, trembled down her arm,
communicating to him through her touch.

Softly, regret in her voice, she whispered, “I can’t.”

Using her ability to slide into his mind, adding her
power to Creed’s and Ian’s, she betrayed him with the simplest of commands.

“Feed, Jared.”

HE wasn’t going to make the meeting.

Jared accepted the reality as he sealed the wound at
Ian’s wrist, and with a single push expelled the two weres from his mind. He
was Raisa’s mate, and she was his first priority. Inside, his vampire prowled,
loose and in charge, angry and possessive, out of his control, wanting only one
thing—to deal with the woman who’d betrayed him.

He got to his feet, holding Raisa immobile in a mental
grip. He cut both weres a glare. “Get the fuck out.”

Neither of them moved. Ian spoke. “She did what she
had to, Jared.”

“She did what she wanted, and to hell with the
consequences.” Something he was beginning to believe was a habit among female
vampires.

“You took advantage.”

“From my side, keeping you alive and strengthening our
advantage is a win-win situation.”

“Not from mine.”

“You’re just pissed you didn’t get your way,” Creed
growled, moving closer to Raisa.

“Yeah, that’s it.” He caught Creed’s eye. “Don’t
bother. She’s never going to be yours.”

“She’s not yours, either.”

“In a few minutes she will be.”

Creed sneered, “Against her will?”

“She made her choice.” When she’d taken his choice
from him, she’d made her choice.

Ian came up beside Creed. “Yes, she did.”

Creed spun around, confronting Ian. “That clearly
violates pack law.”

“She’s not yours, Creed.”

“She could be.”

Ian’s eyes met Jared’s, and he sighed. “No, she
couldn’t.”

Creed bared his fangs at Jared. “You hurt her and I’m
coming after you.”

“Why wait?”

Ian frowned. “Don’t push this, vampire, or I’ll finish
it.”

“You think you can?”

“I think there’s a lot you don’t understand, and until
you do, you might want to accept my support and stop escalating this issue.”

“And if I don’t feel like it?”

“Then you will die.”

The statement pushed into his mind with incredible
strength. Jared blinked. Ian was a were of many surprises. Common sense warred
with primitive demand. “If you want peace, get him out of here.”

“Leave, Creed.”

“No.”

Ian turned slowly, head down, shoulders square. “You
challenge me?”

Creed didn’t immediately back down, didn’t move. “The
woman comes first.”

Ian waved that concern away with his hand. “He won’t
hurt her.”

Creed didn’t move and didn’t unlock his glare from
Jared’s. “You can’t be sure.”

Ian’s lips twitched. “Yes, I can. Look at him without
jealousy, and you’ll see what I see. ”

For another heartbeat, Creed stayed as he was, shook
his head, then nodded once to Ian and stepped back, a sardonic smile tugging
his lips as he glanced at Jared. “You do realize, sooner or later, you’re going
to have to unfreeze her?”

“What’s your point?”

“She’s not going to be happy.”

“Get the hell out.”

Ian grabbed Creed’s arm and turned him toward the
door. Creed stopped before passing through. “Just remember, vamp, if you mess
up, I’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”

Jared flashed his fangs. “Like hell you will.”

Ian shoved Creed through before adding his own warning
over his shoulder. “Don’t mess up.”

THE door closed quietly behind the weres. Jared
dropped the bar across the door. He did not want to be disturbed, and both
Creed and Ian were the disturbing type. Sure the door was secure, he walked
over to where Rai stood frozen, her energy and her spirit contained in a trap
of his making. Helpless, vulnerable to whatever revenge he wanted to exact.

He touched a curl near her shoulder. It wrapped around
his finger in a silken embrace, linking them together. The tawny shades caught
the light from the table lamp, shifting from dark to pale as he drew his hand
away. The ringlet stretched, holding on until the last second, maintaining the
contact longer than he though it could. Defying him. He rubbed the strands
between his fingers. She had pretty hair.

Jared looked down her body. All of her was pretty—a
neat little package shaped perfectly to his taste. The black turtleneck shirt
and pants she wore just emphasized the femininity that radiated off her. He
brought the end of the curl to the corner of her mouth. She didn’t blink,
didn’t move, but moisture gathered in her big brown eyes. The strand of hair
slipped. He caught it with his thumb, prolonging the contact, the violence
within him swirling with frustration.

He released her from his control. She blinked those
thick lashes over her eyes. The color rose in her cheeks. Healthy color. Still
holding the strand of hair, he touched her cheek. “You don’t take a man’s
choices away, sunbeam, even to save his life.”

Her moment of disorientation detonated in an explosion
of anger. “Get away from me.”

She took a swing at him. She would have connected,
too, if she hadn’t pulled back at the last minute. That display of softness
settled over the last of his anger. Jesus, she needed a keeper. He caught her
wrist and pulled her into his chest. “How in hell have you survived the last
few centuries?”

“None of your business.”

“Now that’s where you’re wrong. Everything you do is
my business. Ian gave you to me.”

She yanked her arm, her hair bouncing around her face.
“I’m not Ian’s to give.”

“Then how about we just leave it that I’ve decided for
both of us.”

“You don’t have that right.”

He caught her other wrist before she could wallop him
on the side of his head. She immediately started kicking at his shins. He let
her land four kicks. On the fifth, he said, “Ouch.”

Immediately, she stopped. He shook his head. “You,
baby, have too soft a heart.”

That got a rise out of her. “I do not.”

To prove it, she kicked at him again, this time with
everything she had behind it. He dodged the kick, the effort jarring loose his
smile. She also had quite a temper.

It was simple to use her momentum to turn her.
Crossing his arms over her chest pinned her against him. She struggled and
kicked. He let her expend her frustration, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Breathing deeply of her scent, his vampire prowled impatiently, waiting for her
to settle. Waiting for her to accept.

Finally she slumped against him, jerking when she felt
his arousal. Her jaw set, and then she leaned back, letting him know without
words she wasn’t intimidated by him. His smile broadened. She was all hellfire
and compassion. And as much as that combination should conflict, it worked for
her.

“I saved your life,” she muttered.

“So you did.”

“Twice.”

“Guess that means that I own you now.”

“That’s not how it works.”

“It is if I say it is.”

She elbowed him in the gut with enough force to drive
a punch of air from his lungs. Spinning out of his arms, she slammed her hands
down on her hips. “This isn’t the nineteenth century! You can’t just own
someone.”

“I’m not owning someone. I’m owning you.”

“Never.”

He cocked his head to the side. “That sounds
personal.”

“Of course it’s personal. We’re talking about me.”

“Well, look at it this way—you get to own me.”

She looked him up and down, and managed to put a fair
amount of disgust into her tone. “Assuming I want to.”

He grinned. “Yeah. Assuming that.” It was easy to
catch her hand and tug her back into his arms. “Do you?”

“No.”

“Would you prefer Creed?”

He saw her lips shape around a “yes,” and then she
shook her head, that inner honesty pulling the punch out of her anger. “I don’t
want to be owned by anyone. I had enough of that before.”

“Before when?”

“Before I became a vampire.”

“Explain.”

She sighed. “I was a servant, which for a woman is as
close as you come to being a slave and not wear the title.” She pressed her
palms against his chest. “I have no wish to revisit the experience.”

He lowered his head. “Tough.”

Destiny, fate, or just plain bad luck had hooked them
together. Now she needed him, and he needed her. Her softness, her compassion,
and that old-fashioned propriety that drew him like the sweetest of honey.
“Neither of us have a choice.”

“We can walk away.”

“Try it.” He kissed her right cheek and then her left.
She wouldn’t have any more success than he had, and he’d only gotten as far as
a thought.

“Let me go, and I will.”

“Later.” He found the corner of her mouth. His vampire
hissed in satisfaction as a hint of her taste teased his tongue. Spicy hot and
addictive. He slipped his tongue into that tiny notch, taking advantage of her
ensuing gasp to slide farther within the tempting haven of her mouth.